WSJ: D.C. Has the Jobs, Not So Much the Houses

Yesterday, we looked at rental conditions. Today, we have some stats on houses: the Wall Street Journal's quarterly survey of urban areas finds that there's a lot of inventory around the country from foreclosures, and a lot of distressed borrowers who might lose their homes soon. Nationwide, that's depressing prices. But in D.C., things are a little different–we have the lowest unemployment rate in the country, 12.4 percent fewer houses on the market than this time last year, and negligibly lower prices.

The really eye-popping numbers come from Miami/Fort Lauderdale, where 27.6 percent of home mortgages are more than a month overdue, and Detroit, where house prices dove 18.8 percent from last year. Washington's an oasis!